


Beast in Air, Beast in Water

by gardenGnostic



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College AUs are cheesy as fuck but I'll try my best to make it interesting, F/M, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Maybe sex in a later chapter?????? WHO KNOWS!!! KEEP READING TO FIND OUT!!!!!!, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-03
Updated: 2014-01-03
Packaged: 2018-01-07 07:23:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1117128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gardenGnostic/pseuds/gardenGnostic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Tell me that you long for me,<br/>That you share all of my troubles<br/>You get all the voices in my head are yelling<br/>And my friends can't hear a thing,<br/>And I'm a far cry from the old me."</p><p>(Loosely based on/inspired by the songs "Beast in Air, Beast in Water" and "Hologram" by Snowmine . Other Snowmine songs will likely come into play.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beast in Air, Beast in Water

**Author's Note:**

> He watched her walk by every day  
> From his eighteenth floor apartment  
> And while it's been so long since he's held a hand  
> That he forgot just what it felt like  
> To feel his bones burning inside.

His apartment was on the eighteenth floor. He had a great view of the city, though the building was kind of shitty and there was only one elevator, which was often broken. He hated it at first, though came to terms with it when he realized it meant he didn't have to buy a gym membership since his books incredibly heavy and could just carry them up the stairs as exercise. Though he couldn't brag about how he bought some cool thing with all the money he saved not joining a gym, since he used the money he saved (and more) tipping the pizza delivery guys extra for having to walk all that way (though most of them refused to do it and just had him meet them in the lobby) 3 or 4 times a week since he had absolutely no idea how to cook and couldn't join his school's meal plan unless he lived in the dorms (which he probably wouldn't do anyway, as eating in a cafeteria reminded him too much of high school).

He tried to start a band, but the only applicants he got were white girls who had never had a lesson in their lives but were convinced they were incredible singers and could become the next big popstar if they could only get discovered. But just because you auditioned for The Voice doesn't mean you have talent and it doesn't mean that they wanted you there. It just means that you showed up. He never got any instrumental applicants. He knew a bass player in high school, but she went to college somewhere on the west coast and you only talked to her a few times anyway.

He stuck to playing guitar alone in his apartment (though he couldn't be too loud, as he couldn't risk losing his place because even though he kind of hated it he slept with the landlord's daughter and she fell in love with him and convinced her father to let him rent the place for dirt cheap, which was great and he was really glad he didn't have to get a roommate or god forbid live in the dorms, but her frequent calls and stops by his apartment (they were less frequent when the elevator was broken, but when it was working she would come by nearly every day) were very annoying). He needed to focus on his schoolwork, anyway. Not a band.

Every night at 9:15 a girl would pass by his apartment. There was a laundry room on his floor, and his apartment was halfway between the stairwell and the laundry room, so foot traffic was common. He made a bit of a game out of it, occasionally watching through his peephole and making up backgrounds for the people who walked by. Either he had a horrible memory or nobody ever came to the laundry room twice (it was probably the former) except for this girl. Every night without fail, this girl would pass by and go to the laundry room. He could never come up with an adequate backstory for her (though he had tried many, many times) and was always too shy to introduce himself and eventually ask about her background once they got comfortable with each other.

He wondered if she went to the same school as him. She looked about his age and she looked pretty smart. She was always carrying a different book every time she walked past his apartment. He had no idea how she could read a book a day, especially with school on top of that, ESPECIALLY if she had a job on top of that. He couldn't remember the last book he read that wasn't assigned to him. He definitely had an interest in reading, but would always read too fast and skim the pages, not taking time to actually take in the words and would often end up having to reread passages, as he would zone out and eventually snap back into reality, continuing to read and not having any idea what was being presented to him.

 

It wasn't just books.

 

He did that with a lot of things.

 

He skimmed through just about everything. Not just reading material but through most things he did. When it came to relationships, he was (unfortunately) suave enough to get most girls into bed with him without having to jump through (too many) hoops. Without having to deal with the dating part of it all. And even if he liked them, he would never call them again. He wasn't quite sure why he did that.

 

He figured he just didn't want to put in the effort.

 

He hadn't held a hand or kissed a cheek in ages. He figured he just didn't want to.

 

But with this girl whose name he didn't even know, he felt like he did.

 

For the first time in years, he wanted more.


End file.
